GALLEGOS. 29 



tinians in Buenos Aires. Accustomed all his life to these conditions, it 

 never occurred to him that a fire would add very materially to our com- 

 fort, and little good would it have done if it had, for there were no con- 

 veniences for making a fire. It will doubtless seem strange to those 

 accustomed to all the many comforts of our homes, built and fitted with 

 all modern conveniences, to be told that here in south latitude 5 1 ° 30', or six 

 hundred and fifty miles farther from the equator than is New York, in the 

 principal government building of the capital of a territory with an area equal 

 to one half that of the German Empire, there is no provision for heating 

 either the entire building or any portion of it. Yet such was the fact. 



It was with considerable pleasure that late in the afternoon we received 

 the information that our luggage had arrived from the steamer. We were 

 immediately shown our quarters and proceeded forthwith to provide our- 

 selves with heavier and more comfortable clothing, with which, fortu- 

 nately, we were well supplied. Clad in dry and warmer clothing we 

 were, if not what might be called comfortable, decidedly less uncomfort- 

 able than we had been during the day, and after a splendid dinner fol- 

 lowed by some delightful music, with the Governor and his wife as the 

 performers, we retired for the night, fully realizing that our stay in Pata- 

 gonia was not going to prove a pleasure trip from the standpoint of the 

 summer tourist, however successful it might be from a purely scientific 

 point of view. We were determined, however, and felt confident of our 

 ultimate success. While inwardly disgusted with the mode of life of the 

 natives, which had in it so few elements of real comfort, yet we resigned 

 ourselves to it with all the grace possible during the short time it was 

 necessary for us to remain in Gallegos, while getting together our outfit, 

 purchasing horses, etc. We well knew that when once we were ready to 

 start and dependent upon our own resources, we could, with our equip- 

 ment and experience in camp life, make ourselves far more comfortable in 

 our tent than here in these cold, damp, cheerless halls. Moreover, we 

 should then be under the exhilarating influence of work to be accom- 

 plished, with an abundance of most interesting material about us on every 

 hand to be had for the taking. It was with some such feelings as the 

 above that we retired for the night, our first to be spent on shore in Pata- 

 gonia. While we earnestly endeavored to adapt ourselves to the customs 

 of the country, in some respects this was quite impossible. All over 

 South America two meals a day are considered sufficient, so that break- 



